This invention relates to building construction, and more particularly to a freeze-resistant downspout system.
In cold climates, downspouts can freeze up, so that water backs up in the gutters, overflowing them sometimes on the building side, whereupon water flows down or into the building. The weight of the accumulated ice and water can also damage the roof drainage system, or the roof itself, and falling gutters or downspouts are a danger to those below. Downspouts may also fail at their seams as ice expands within them.
There are a number of solutions to the freezing-gutter problem, none of them perfect. Downspouts may, for example, be electrically heated to prevent freezing. Another known method is to place the downspouts within the building, where it is warm, to keep them from freezing. When this approach is used, the gutters may also be placed inside, but then any gutter leaks become quite serious. The alternative is to have interior downspouts, but exterior gutters. Such an approach requires a through-wall connection between the gutters and the downspouts. That connection is the subject of this invention.